The Best Bad Luck
by Jack Redhawke
Summary: I haven't Started the new chapters too my other story's yet, due to a sudden urge to do everything Lord of the Rings, I'm sorry I can't be counted on to be regular with updates, but I decided I wanted to give you something, and it is this, the first piece of writing I was actually proud of, though I will say that THIS ISN'T FINISHED YEt, but this may be enough to wet your appetite!


**Okay so, like I said in the Gamer Fic, there won't be any certainty on** _ **when**_ **a chapter comes out, only that it** _ **will**_ **at some point. This is something I've had for a long time, and I haven't even really checked over it to see how finished and proofread this is, but I wanted to give you something, as I unfortunately haven't even started the next Gamer chapter, or the Remnant's Wrath Super Chapter I promised, mostly because, I suddenly like, just all my love of The Lord of The Rings came back, and I've been watching the extended editions of the movies, and playing LOTRO, War in the North, and Third Age Total War a bunch, so sorry on that. It** _ **will**_ **come, I promise, just not yet.**

 **Now, this Star Wars Fic, is something I remember really enjoyed writing, and, if you guys really like it, and I finally stop being a lazy, unreliable asshole when it comes to updates I may continue it, Also turning this from a Docs file to a word file, then uploading it to may fuck up some of the formatting so not my fault if you find any, just mention it in a review and I'll try to fix it, IMPORTANT: I just skipped to the end, and it turns out this isn't finished, so sorry on that, but like I said if you like it I** _ **WILL FINISH IT,**_ **so without further adieu, I give you…**

 _The Best Bad Luck_

' _How do I always end up in these situations?'_ I asked myself as I ran through the Venator Class Republic cruiser, firing my modified MT-14 blaster down the hallway, blasting a pair of battle droids before turning to sprint down the hallway to the hangar bays. The Jedi in front of me deflected the blaster bolts from the droids in front of us back at them, cutting down any that got close enough, the Clone Commander Reims firing a rifle behind us with the three other clones running with us doing the same.

We burst through the doors of the hangar bay to see absolute chaos before us. Clones and battle droids fighting around burning ships and supplies, only my dark blue YG-300 freighter the only ship _mostly_ intact. _'And I just got that fixed.'_ Several lightsabers igniting alerted me to my biggest problem yet today, General Grievous, biggest tin can of them all, stalking toward us with that rasping laughter.

"This is not how I thought my day was going to go." I said sighing. The Jedi, a Talortai named Reiden Guen readied his lightsaber.

"You and I both, Captain Krayne. Commander Reims, get to the Captain's ship, I'll be right behind you." He told us, before rushing to keep Grievous occupied, the erratic way he spun and swung four lightsabers at once challenging even a Jedi Master's skill.

"Roger that General, Let's move boys, double time it! Everyone to the freighter!" He barked the orders both to clones next to him, and to the other clones fighting in the hangar bay as we made a break for my ship, The Azure Crow, a heavily modified YG-300 light freighter painted primarily in its namesake color and trimmed in silver, with improved shields and engines, both of which were already warmed up thanks to my co-pilot, a green skinned twi'lek named Saerha, speaking of which. I brought the comlink on my left wrist to my mouth.

"Saerha, lower the ramp, we're making a hasty exit, and send the AG units to cover us!" I yelled as we ran through the blaster fire, one of the clones getting pegged right in the head by a blaster bolt.

"You got it boss!" Came the chipper, carefree tone of my co-pilot, almost as if she were relaxing on a beach, and not in the middle of the firefight in an exploding cruiser. The ramp lowered, revealing my four personal, and, once again, modified, Commando droids, painted blue with silver trim like my ship, AG-1 through 4 painted in gold on the upper left of each of their chests, each wielding a DC-15S in their right hand, and purple hexagonal energy shield in their left, the tips of their blasters poking through the one way shields as they spread out just before the ramp, their advanced targeting computers letting them take out the vastly inferior standard battle droids one shot apiece.

"Commando Droids!" One of the clones shouted in alarm, bringing up his rifle. I pushed the barrel back down as we got closer to my ship.

"Don't worry, they're the guards of my ship, now all of you on board, now!" I yelled as the three clones ran on board, myself stopping by my guard droids in suppressing the enemy droids, allowing another 15 clones to make their way on board before it was just Reiden and Grievous left. "AG units, back on the ship, Saerha! Take off but stay low, we still have a jedi to pick up!" I yelled into the ship as my Azure Guards stood at the top of the ramp, myself at the edge, as the ship began to hover off the floor. "Master Jedi! It's time to leave! Come on!" I gestured for him to jump on board, pulling out my second pistol and firing at Grievous along with my AG units, forcing him to focus on deflecting our blaster fire instead of focusing on Reiden, who took my advice and ran towards us, easily jumping the 20 up from the ground to the ramp, landing sure footedly as we retreated inside, the ramp closing as we blasted out of the hangar.

"I appreciate the assistance, Captain." Reiden said, giving a small bow in thanks.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not a fan of the Separatists, so getting to blast the walking tin cans they call an army is always a good time for me. I'm just annoyed my ship was damaged so soon after getting it fixed, this was my first delivery after getting its engines repaired after some bad business on Wayland." I told him as we made our way to the cockpit, passing by the clones checking their equipment and tending to their injuries, most of which were rather minor. We also passed my two Astromech droids, R3-G8 and R3-F8, or as I call them, Gate and Fate. They were red and gold respectively, and were rolling around, repairing any superficial damage caused to the Crow during the space battle before this. Speaking of all that, I remembered just how well the day started off.

"Alright, thanks a bunch man." I said to the engineer as I handed him the credits. Sealing the deal for my fixed ship.

"No problem, Captain, that ship of yours is lightyears beyond its standard counterparts. You put a lot of work into it, so try to keep it in one piece this time eh?" He said jokingly, getting a small chuckle from as I walked away, waving goodbye.

"I'll keep that in mind." I said over my shoulder as I walked towards the garage my ship was in, as I needed to move it to a Spaceport hangar to retrieve my shipment. I put my hands in the pockets of my deep blue and silver trim long coat, with small durasteel pauldrons and back plate, with a thin chestplate beneath the closed front, small strips of plate protecting my sides without restricting visibility. My dark brown combat boots with strips durasteel plate added on for protection, with black trousers with thin plates covering my thighs, with both my modified MT-14's on either hip. I clenched my hands as I pulled them from my pockets, checking my fingerless leather gauntlets, ending just before my elbows, with plates covering the tops of my forearms and and smaller plates for the backs of my hands and fingers. The hold outfit was designed to be light and flexible, yet able to take a shot. After all, we smugglers do find ourselves used for target practice quite often unfortunately. I can't fathom why anyone wouldn't find my clever wit and daring exploits anything less than charming.

I chuckle to myself at the joke, knowing exactly why they don't like me. I walked through the doors to the hangar bay, finding my partner Saerha and my six droid crew waiting for me.

"They did a good job, She looks good as new." I said, appreciating my ship in it's full pristine glory. The Azure Crow was a blue and silver YG-300 model light freighter, it had a saucer like shape as is often used in Corellian freighters, with three large ion engines. It's saucer like shape was broken down the middle, where the cockpit was located, the right side coming in closer to sport its communications array. On the left side, the saucer shape was cut short by the forward fixed twin laser cannon, that I beefed up to pack quite the punch. Right on the middle top and bottom of the ship were full swivel heavy laser cannons, which were manned by two of my guard droids. I was broken from my inspection of my bab-I mean ship, by my partner.

"Are we gonna fly the ship or stare at it all day? We _do_ have a job to do you know." She said sassily, walking past me to board the ship. I smiled and shook my head at her attitude. That attitude got her, and by extension me, into trouble more times than I can count, ever since the day I met her on Ryloth.

As I boarded the ship, I thought about the job we were about to take. Despite being a smuggler, and quite found of performing dashing heroics, I will often take completely legitimate jobs such as this one. I simply need to pick up a shipment of starship parts here on Ord Mantell, and deliver them to Corellia, for a solid pay of 60,000 credits. Though that might not be as much as one the more… lucrative, contracts I've taken, it's simple, easy, lets me enjoy being able to have my ship in perfect condition for a change, and _really_ enjoy not being shot at for once.

"Ahhh, Home Sweet Home. Did you miss me, baby, I certainly missed you." I mumbled to my ship as I sat in the pilot's chair and hugged the console. What? A smuggler loves his ship more than just about anything, ask anyone. Saerha however didn't appreciate having what is literally our home back as she took her seat and kicked her feet up on the console. I immediately turned and glared at her. "Feet. Off. **Now**." I told her, brooking no argument. She sighed in exasperation, but listened and put her feet down.

"Alright, yeesh, it's just a ship. Gate, Fate, how are the systems looking?" She said to me, before addressing the droids about the start up procedures and system diagnostics.

"It's not just a ship." I mumbled, definitely **not** pouting at all, no sirree, as the droids gave affirmative beeps that everything was good to go. We lifted of the ground and flew out of the hangar to the spaceport, landing in hangar bay seventeen, where our cargo awaited. Once again, everything ran smoothly, we loaded everything up quickly, sorted out the details and payments and such, and we were on our way off planet to Corellia.

"Okay, next stop, Corellia. Gate, are the coordinates locked in?" I asked the golden astromech, who beeped affirmatively in response. "Alright then, Saerha, hit it." I tell her smirking as she pulls the lever catapulting our ship into hyperspace towards Corellia. I leaned back in my chair, putting my hands behind my head, still smiling. "Ahh man, two weeks grounded from that Wayland fiasco, I am glad I'm flying again." I said after a few minutes of just enjoying the feeling of being in a starship again. Saerha looked over to me, and eyebrow raised.

"Might I remind you, Tarick Krayne, that that _Fiasco_ , was entirely your fault?" She said cheekily, making me frown.

"That was in no way my fault, that slimey pirate startled me on purpose, anyone with half a brain should know not to do that to someone the bad parts of town. Not my fault I blasted him on instinct, or that his friends took offense to it." I said matter of factly. However, Saerha was not impressed by this and replied sarcastically.

"Oh _of course,_ it's not your fault you blasted the man out of nowhere, how could I be so foolish!" She finished dramatically, bursting into laughter at the indignant look and raised brow on my face.

"Very funny," I replied, "Need I remind you tha-" I was suddenly cut off as a warning started blaring through the cockpit. "Huh, what's this, there's nothing on the astrogation charts saying somethings in our way, but there is a lot of traffic around Corellia. Saerha pull us out of hyperspace, could be an accident between ships, don't wanna hit any debris at light speed." I tell her, managing the systems on the console.

"Got it boss." She pushes the lever back to it's original position, dropping us out of hyperspace just in time to see a banking clan frigate explode right in front of us. I immediately went into evasive maneuvers to avoid the debris. Well, at least I was partially right.

"Oh god damnit, we jumped right into the middle of a battle! Oh you gotta be playin' me right now! Shit. AG one and two get to the guns, Saerha put deflector shields up to maximum, Gate, Fate, manage the systems, make sure nothing goes down, I just had this ship put back together I am not letting it get trashed again!" I barked to my crew, immediately going into battle mode, weaving between wreckage and cruisers, trying to get through the battle to the planet below, doing my best to stay under the radar, but this battle was massive. Corellia is known first and foremost for its starship production, rivalling even that of the Kuat shipyards. It was also the Republic's main source of ships, so it was heavily guarded, meaning the Separatists brought an equally large force to try and break through and conquer the planet. I could already tell this battle would go down as one of the most important in the war.

If the Separatists lose, they lose a massive fleet and give the Republic a huge advantage, but if the Republic loses they lose an equally large amount of ships, as well as their source to make them, which could lose the war for the Republic, and I was right in the middle of this. Oh joy. As I navigated the battle space, the Crow suddenly jerked as we were hit from behind. I checked the scanners to see three droid tri-fighters and two Vulture droids on my tail. AG one and two already returning fire, clipping one of the tri-fighters and making it spin out into a piece of debris.

"Argh, you motherless flying tin cans! You wanna go! Come on then, let's dance!" I yelled, enraged that I was once again being shot at when I really shouldn't be. "Get 'em guys!" I shout to my guards as they continue firing, taking out a Vulture droid as I evade their laser fire. "Both of you, cannons forward, Saerha, get ready with the forward guns!" I tell them as they adjust their guns. Suddenly, I invert the ship, doing a perfect 180 degrees hairpin turn, facing the oncoming fighters as I continue to fly in reverse. "Open Fire!" I yell, as each of my gunners light up the three remaining fighters, each downing one of them. "Yes! Haha, nice shooting!" I congratulate as I right the ship back to its original direction.

"Did you expect anything less Krayne?" My partner asks rhetorically. Before I can answer the comms suddenly crackle.

"I've lost both my wingmen, got two Vultures on me. Can't shake 'em!" A Clones voice comes over the speakers. I looked around, spotting the ARC-170 starfighter he was in, smoking slightly but mostly alright, with two Vultures trying to change that.

"Well, if we charged for all of the heroics we have to do, we'd never have to work a day in our life!" Saerha joked as I nodded in agreement, pulling my ship up behind the Vultures.

"Sounds like you could use a hand pilot. Allow me." I said to him over the comms, firing the forward cannons, taking out both Vultures quickly. I stayed on his tail, keeping fighters off of him while he regained his bearings.

"Who are you?" He asked confused about the origins of his savior.

"Just a freighter Captain with a soft spot for the Republic, how are you holding up?" I asked flying up beside him.

"Fine mostly, I still got a lot of fight in this thing." He said confidently, his flight evening out as he regained his composure.

"Alright, well let's link up with the rest of your squadron. Lead the way, I'll stay on your tail and we'll scrap these walking tin cans like no tomorrow, sound good?" I questioned looking over at his cockpit, seeing him smirk with a thumbs up.

"Damn good, the rest of my squadron is guarding General Reiden's ship from enemy fighters and transports." He said, veering off to the left and blast two droid tri-fighters in the process. I followed right behind him, AG one and two taking out a trio of Vultures with their guns.

"This is one hell of a battle, what made the Seps try and attack Corellia of all places? They had to have known how heavily guarded it would be." I said as we continued to weave through the enemy ships, towards a Republic Venator that was taking out both a Banking Clan frigate, and a Providence class carrier at the same time.

"They are trying to cut us off from our supply of starships. We lost a dozen ships due to the Malevolence, and their trying to keep us from replenishing them, probably so they can just orbital strike any planet that they want conquered." The pilot told me as he did a barrel roll to squeeze through an exploding Corvette, myself corkscrewing overtop of it taking out another pair of Vultures mid roll.

"Well, at least they're bringing their A game! That should make things fun if nothing else, huh Captain?" Saerha mentioned, grinning as she fired the forward at any Separatist ship that passed in front of us.

"Sure, if by fun you an innumerable horde of walking scrap firing at us relentlessly then yeah, sure… fun." I replied dryly, refocusing my eyes on the Venator that seemed to have carved out its own section of space through that Providence carrier and three frigates. "That is one nasty Venator, is that the General's ship?" I ask as we passed out of the main firing are into the small area of calm the Venator carve around itself.

"You bet. Master Reiden's fleet is the one tasked to guarding Corellia right now, and he doesn't play around. Come on, I'm seeing my squadron now." The pilot said as he veered off slightly to the left, approaching a trio of the dozen or so ARC-170s circling the Republic flagship.

"Corporal, where have you been, and what happened to your wingmen." The pilot leading the trio asked, his voice coming through the comms, he must not of heard his distress call among all the chatter.

"Tri-fighters and Vulture droids, outnumbered us two to one, they got Ace and Stinger. Would've gotten me too if it weren't for this Freighter Captain here, Sergeant." The pilot told his Sergeant, who I assumed was the leader of his Squadron. I decided to greet him on the comms.

"Hello there Sergeant, fine battle we're having today hmm?" I joked as Saerha laughed at my antics. I heard a chuckle or two from the other pilots.

"I appreciate the assistance of one of my men Captain, but why are you in the middle of this battle?" He asked, obviously wondering why a freighter Captain dove head first into a major battle.

"Delivering a shipment of starship parts to Corellia. I had no idea this was going on, and dropped out of hyperspace right in the middle of it, so I decided to lend a helping hand." I explained to him, noticing another wave droid fighters heading towards us, two dozen at least. "Oh boy. Sergeant, we got some company!" I said as turned to face the oncoming fighters, my three gunners taking out four of them the moment they were in range.

"We see it. Come on boys, time to scrap some clankers!" He said as the dozen ARC-170s joined me in charging the oncoming wave. Another five Vulture droids going down before we passed each other, everyone breaking off into trios, with me sticking with the damaged pilot and one other fighter. From here it became a series of dogfights all around the ship, the ship itself unable to fire at the droids with friendly ships being so close, instead firing at further cruisers to help the other Republic warships. I know we downed three more Vulture droids, but I must admit I find dogfights like that so intense I can't really remember all of what happens during it. Before I knew it, we had cleared all the enemy fighters away, losing only three fighters in the process.

"Well that went better than expec-Wait, what's that?" I ask as I see a flash move towards the Venator from behind us on my scanners. "Sergeant I think we got stragglers behind us." I tell him as I turn the ship around, only to see not straggling fighters, but two dozen bombers, just releasing their first payloads into the hull of the ship. "Scratch that! Bombers hitting the flagship!" I yell as I zoom forward, firing at the bombers but not yet within effective range.

"Stop those clankers from taking out the Generals ship! Move! Move! Move!" The Sergeant yelled as he and his fighters followed me. But damage had been done. By the time we chased off the bombers, the flagship had one of its bridges destroyed, its engines damaged, shields weakened, and its escape pod are blasted beyond use. Suddenly the comms crackled.

"This is Master Reiden, my Flagship is crippled but there are still people on board, requesting immediate pick up." The Jedi's request would not go unanswered.

" Master Reiden, this is Tarick Krayne, Captain of the Azure Crow. I'm landing my freighter in the main hangar. Can you make your way there?" I ask him.

"It will take some time, a few boarding pods latched onto undamaged parts of the ship after the bombers came in, we'll have to fight our way through, we'd appreciate some assistance." The Jedi replied. I nodded to myself.

"Okay, we're coming in for a landing. Sergeant, can you make sure no more droids board the ship?" I ask. He merely chuckles in response.

"Don't worry Captain, you won't get any more unwanted company." He says as his squadron redeploys. I fly around and start to pull in the hangar.

"You'll be having some back up as well." Another Clones voice comes through the comms. As I land, I notice two LAAT gunships coming in right behind me, landing and releasing two squads of clone troopers each. "We got the distress call, we'll secure the hangar for you." the clone spoke.

"Understood. Saerha, keep the ship warmed up, I feel we'll be needing to make a hasty exit." I tell her as I leave the cockpit. She merely groans in response.

"Why do give me the boring jobs." She sighs in disappointment. I turn to her.

"Trust me, this won't be boring in a few minutes, and I trust you with getting us out of this cruiser alive." I tell her with a smirk as I exit my ship, running through the hangar to the main door, as a side door opens up to reveal several squads of battle droids opening fire. The clones yell to each other and start returning blaster fire. I take a few potshots with my pistol, but keep moving, running through the door into the hallways of the ship. As I run, a trio of battle droids turn a corner, and immediately start firing at me. Without a moment's hesitation, I dropped and continue sliding forward on my knees, pulling my second pistol and firing three shots each, nailing each droid once in the head and chest. Jumping back to my feet before I slow down, I continue down the main hallway until I hear more blaster fire, accompanied by the tell tale sound of a lightsaber, coming from a hallway to my left.

Following it, I soon came upon the Jedi himself, a Talortai, a humanoid race with both avian and reptilian characteristics including an upper jaw shaped like a beak, in tan robes with crimson highlights and armor, fighting off several squads of battle droids, alongside a dozen other clones. He is at the back of the group, and doesn't see a pair of droids come out of a hallway behind him. I immediately take two shots, nailing both droids as the Talortai looks in alarm towards the blaster fire behind him. I give him a nod and smile as I take cover behind a corner, returning fire to the mass of droids down the hallway. _'Oh boy. I guess this is where the fun begins'_ I thought to myself, nailing two droids with headshots.

"I appreciate the assistance, Captain Krayne. I heard you helping our pilots over the comms. I'm honored to fight beside one so brave and selfless." He said to me calmly as he redirected blaster fire back towards our enemy.

"The honor is all mine master Jedi. Galaxy's a rough place, but it'd be even worse without you Jedi holding things together." I tell him truthfully. Despite being a smuggler, and so technically, a criminal and having my fair share of run ins with law enforcement, I never held any bad blood against them, which is why I only ever used stun on law enforcement. The ones I really hated were the Hutts, the soulless pirates and murderers who tore apart whatever or whoever they wanted to at a moments notice, all for a quick buck. Which is generally why my ship is always shot up. I do jobs for these people, get my money, and then screw them over, usually with a bomb in the shipment, or a fake one altogether, depending on how dangerous it is. I smirked as I thought about how many enemies I made over the years as the last droid fell. Only seven clones remaining along with myself and Reiden. A high ranking looking clone with crimson trimmed armor and a ram's head painted on his helmet walked up to the Jedi and myself.

"Ah, Captain Krayne, this is my second in command, Commander Reims. Reims, this is the Captain who helped our fighters." The Jedi introduced, Reims and I nodding to each other.

"I got the gist of what's happening, but can I get the situation in detail. The ship's shields and engines look rough, but it should still be able to limp along and its guns still work fine and has fighter protection. Besides, I don't think we'd even be able to get everyone off. With the escape pods destroyed my freighter and two gunships are all we got to evacuate. Is it really best to evacuate." I voiced my thoughts to the others.

"Captain, while the damage wouldn't put us completely out of the fight, 20 boarding pods have latched onto the ship, added on the losses we took from the bombing and how our forces have been cut off from each other, we don't have the manpower to hold the ship. We won't even be able to get everyone left through the droids." Commander Reims told me, as we started down the hallway.

"Damn, I didn't know that many got through. They really want this planet don't they?" I ask as we run past a series of windows, showing the chaotic battle still raging outside.

"Yes, it's quite disturbing. The droid army has never hit this deep in our territory before. I worry of what other attacks may be planning, a killing stroke like this, they'd never have just one." Reiden voiced his opinions on the matter. Reims spoke up next.

"I say we win this battle first, then figure out the Separatists next move." We were all in a agreement there.

"LOOK OUT!" One of the clones screamed, a shot down fighter was heading right for us. We dashed ahead as fast as we could, Reiden and myself easily taking the lead as we weren't weighed down by our gear. It crashed through the window right as most of us past through a doorway. Our forward momentum came to a dead stop as the vacuum of space pulled us back, three of the clones in the back immediately being sucked into space. Reiden jumped ahead and grabbed a support pillar with one hand and held the other out towards us. Our flight stopped as we floated in the air for a few moments, before the emergency blast door closed, sealing the breach. Reiden lowered his hand and we fell to the ground, quickly getting up and continuing our towards the hangar.

"Well, wasn't that fun?" I say sarcastically as we come to a stop, blasting six battle droids guarding the hangar bay doors. Those droids are always hapless and never stood a chance. "Well that was easy." I said, just as 15 battle droids round a corner behind us.

"Clones! Jedi! Blast them!" Along with a series of 'Roger Roger's was the only warning we had as they began firing at us.

"You just had to op-"

"Open my big mouth, I know, I know. Run!" I cut the snarky clone off as we ran down towards the door ahead of us. _'How do I end up in these situations?'_ I asked myself as I ran through the Venator class Cruiser.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts as the ship shakes briefly just as we arrive at the cockpit. I take my seat as I talk to Saerha.

"What do we got on us Saerha?" She turns to look at me as the ship shakes again.

"Two squadrons of Vulture droids on us. Looks like six of the Republic 170's are left, along with the two gunships, and they're watching our backs. They are gonna need some help though." She replies, looking to Reims and Reiden.

"You two heard her. My guard droids are programmed with some pretty solid first aid knowledge. I'll need you two in the rotary guns to help your friends out." I said commandingly, I don't care if they are a Commander and a Jedi, they are on my ship, they follow the Captain's orders. Luckily, they knew this as well and didn't hesitate to run off to the guns.

"Captain, I got another ship on the scanners. It's coming from the other hangar of the _Dauntless_. Thinks it's other survivors?" she asked me. I looked at the ships readings, recognizing that is no Republic ship.

"Hell no, that'll be Grievous no doubt. Master Jedi! Commander! Grievous is in pursuit, be ready for any surprises his ship has for us." I call to my new gunners.

" That is not surprising, Grievous has never been fond of Jedi escaping him." The Jedi replied, firing at the incoming fighters.

"Strange that he hates running, isn't it? Seeing as he seems quite the fan of doing it himself at the first sign of defeat." Commander Reims jabbed at the Droid General. The gunships on either side of us returned fire with the two side mounted beam cannons on either side of each gunship. The Arc-170s occasionally inverted themselves to fire at the Vulture droids, or one would break off, bait fighters into following it then the other clones would blast them. We had lost only one fighter, and had taken out about half of the other fighters as Grievous finally caught up to the rest of us. I briefly notice that two Banking Clan frigates started firing on on the _Dauntless_ , tearing the crippled ship to pieces.

"Alright everyone, stay together and make for the nearest cruiser, we need these fighters off of us. Head for the one dead ahead. Master Reiden, need you to alert them, tell 'em we're coming and that we got company!" I say as I evade an ion missile from Grievous. Two more clone fighters dropped, along with five more Vulture droids as we closed in on the Venator warship. Grievous started firing wildly, launching all of his missiles and gunning his rapid fire blasters constantly, trying to shoot us down. Several hit The Azure Crow, shaking it from the force. ' _Damnit! I just got this thing fixed!'_ I thought to myself as the Venator started firing at the fighters, destroying most of them, causing Grievous to veer off and retreat.

"Whew, we made it." I said in relief as we pulled into the hangar bay.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Master Reiden added, relief in his voice. I started laughing.

"I guess not, just glad the Seps have stopped blowing holes in my ship. Lets check on your soldiers General." I said, standing up from my chair and stretching. I met with the Jedi and his Commander in the lounge, where a dozen clones resting and tending to their wounds, a few more clones in the other rooms of the ship, including one in the medbay who was caught on the edge of an explosion, on of the AG units tending to his wounds.

"The Separatists really hit us hard." Reims commented, looking sad at how few made it out.

"Yeah, but their gambits failing, they are losing too many ships, this battle won't be going to much longer I don't think." I replied.

"Yes, but we must remain vigilant, it isn't over yet and Grievous may have a few more tricks up his sleeve." Reiden said, before anything more could be said, the intercom beeped on.

"Captain, the medical crew is here, I'm lowering the ramp." Saerha's voice echoed through the room, as I heard footsteps start ascending the ramp. The three of us started helping the less injured clones up and out of the way of the clone medics so they could get to the more severely injured. After helping all the clones off of my ship and into the hands of the medics, Reims, Reiden and myself started heading toward the bridge. Noticing my comlink blinking, I answered it to hear Saerha's voice.

"Captain, you want me to meet up with you and the Jedi? She asked.

"Nah, I need you to check on those starship parts, make sure they're not damaged, and make Fate and Gate run diagnostics on the ship, make sure everything's still in the green, I've a feeling we're gonna get shot at again before the day is out." I told her.

"Oh lovely, alright I'll make sure everything is in ship shape before you get back." she replied, before the line ended. I sped up my pace to catch up with Master Reiden and Commander Reims, to see what they were talking about.

"Is everything alright guys?" I asked them casually, it was the Jedi who replied first.

"Yes, well, as alright as they can be, given the circumstances, the Commander and I were just talking to the Admiral of this fleet over the comms as to why the Separatists launched such an assault on Corellia, despite the obvious strategic importance of it, between the size of our fleet, and military presence on the ground, even with the amount of ships they brought, this is basically a suicide mission. The droid army, being entirely droids tend to act on the orders of tactical droids or heartless, but still no less cunning generals." Commander Reims then spoke up.

"Acting based on the odds of success with overwhelming numbers, but only if the odds are in their favor, an attack such as this, despite the damage done to our own fleet, has no chance of success and is far outweighed by the amount of ships they've already lost and are still going to lose, it makes no strategic sense whatsoever." Reims finished as we reached the bridge, the hustle and bustle of activity in the bridge having a sense of ordered chaos with everyone moving and doing their jobs.

As we approached the Admiral of this ship, the _Starbreaker_ , I took a good look at him, and I could tell he was not a man to be messed with. He wasn't a clone, he was a human man standing at six foot six, well muscled and clearly in great shape despite the grey in his hair and beard and the wrinkles on his face. I could tell he was a man of action, and thoroughly seasoned veteran.

We stopped as we reached where he was standing around the war table, seeing the hologram, showing the battlespace above the planet, with still seven Republic Venators and 10 Acclimators on our side still in the fight, with five Providence class dreadnoughts, and seven banking clan frigates still fighting for the separatists, with no sign of retreating.

"Master Reiden, Commander Reims, it's good to see you made it off the _Dauntless_ , welcome aboard the _Starbreaker_."

"Thank you Admiral Karek, though we wouldn't have made it out without Captain Krayne's assistance." Master Reiden said, gesturing towards me. Admiral Karek looked at me with a critical eye, and met his look with a small nod.

"Good to meet you captain, thanks for the cover fire on our approach by the way, Grievous wasn't happy we'd escaped." I said to him, causing him to smirk.

"Of course, you risked your life for our General and men when you had no reason to. Thank you for that, and, assuming because you're here, you intend to help us further?" Karek guessed.

"Yeah, they said they were talking to you about how the Separatist assault plan was suicidal?" I asked, wondering what the Admiral's thinking about it.

"Yes,while it appears they are trying to seriously break through our fleet, and are doing damage, they have already lost twice the ships we have, they will have no choice but to retreat, they had no hope of winning this battle. I believe that perhaps they were simply trying to prove they could attack and cause damage anywhere, even in the core worlds. After all, it is extremely concerning as to how they could possibly sneak such a massive fleet so deep into our territory." The Admiral explained, Commander Reims spoke up next.

"Have you been scanning the rubble from the shot down Separatist cruisers, it would fall into an ocean on the planet, could be a similar kind of attack to the one they launched on Kamino?" He theorized, but Karek shook his head.

"We thought of that, we have records of how they had the debris to build that underwater assault, our scans of the debris mark it as just that, scrap metal and unusable." Master Reiden spoke up next.

"The separatists are good at mass production, it could be that they have amassed a massive fleet, to send at us in


End file.
